An Old Fashioned Christmas

From its jubilant beginning with "Christmas Prologue" (Christian Kolonovits' melange of familiar Christmas tunes), to its fitting conclusion with all four soloists joined in "Silent Night," A GALA CHRISTMAS IN VIENNA provides the expected blockbuster holiday cheer. This concert is the fifth in the "Christmas in Vienna" series featuring Placido Domingo with assorted stars of classical and popular music.
Sarah Brightman–riding the success of her crossover album TIME TO SAY GOODBYE and its collaboration with Andrea Bocelli–contributes primarily to the pop-flavored selections, but still offers an attractive contribution to the program. Belgian sensation Helmut Lotti turns in a mostly believable imitation of Johnny Mathis in "Adeste Fideles" and betrays his interest in Elvis Presley in "Christmas is Here Again." Domingo's "An Old Fashioned Christmas" will be more familiar to many listeners from Frank Sinatra's Christmas album; Domingo's reading is straightforward and in his own style.

One of the most beautiful Xmas albums you can ever hear. Sweet Karen Carpenter wishes you Merry Christmas and her voice touches directly your heart. A special Xmas gift.

Christmas music rarely appeared on phonograph records until the late 1940s, and most of what did appear was aimed squarely at the mainstream pop market. In fact, Christmas recordings by country artists were virtually non-existent in the pre-war years. This collection of 30 hillbilly Christmas records gathers together some mighty rare recorded material, to say the least.

The third quarter of each year brings a bounty of Christmas collections on pop artists ranging from Sinatra to Elvis Presley to Bing Crosby to the Beach Boys. Unfortunately, most of them reissue the same ancient material in the same shockingly awful sound (at least they don't charge much for such offensive product). Reprise's issue of The Christmas Collection rectifies the situation, at least for Sinatra, compiling 18 of his holiday recordings from the '60s and '70s (plus one each from the '50s and '90s). Christmas recordings for Sinatra, as for many vocal artists, were informal occasions for friends and family. His two holiday records for Reprise followed that formula, with 1964's The Twelve Songs of Christmas including several duets with Bing Crosby and 1969's The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas featuring Nancy Sinatra, Tina, and Frank Jr. in special roles.

Beegie Adair is a prolific, award-winning jazz pianist and arranger known for her interpretations of jazz and popular standards and show tunes. She has sold over two million recordings globally. Her melodic, fleet-fingered style reflects the sounds of her major influences, including George Shearing, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, and Erroll Garner. Adair grew up in Cave City, Kentucky, where she began taking piano lessons at age five. She continued to study piano throughout college, earning a B.S. in music education at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. During and after college, she played in jazz bands, and spent three years teaching music to children before moving to Nashville, where she became a session musician, working at WSM-TV and on The Johnny Cash Show (1969-1971). She and her husband also started a jingle company to write music for commercials.

An intimate piano and vocal holiday collection featuring classics for children and adults alike…and an original tune, co-written by Beegie Adair! Beegie Adair is a prolific, award-winning jazz pianist and arranger known for her interpretations of jazz and popular standards and show tunes. She has sold over two million recordings globally. Her melodic, fleet-fingered style reflects the sounds of her major influences, including George Shearing, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, and Erroll Garner. Adair grew up in Cave City, Kentucky, where she began taking piano lessons at age five. She continued to study piano throughout college, earning a B.S. in music education at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. During and after college, she played in jazz bands, and spent three years teaching music to children before moving to Nashville, where she became a session musician, working at WSM-TV and on The Johnny Cash Show (1969-1971). She and her husband also started a jingle company to write music for commercials.